Key to Lawrence by Linda and Gary Cargill

Key to Lawrence by Linda and Gary Cargill

via Linda Cargill:

Next year, 2014, will be the one hundredth anniversary of the start of World War I, which contemporaries called the Great War. Two years from now on May 7, 2015 will be the centennial of the sinking of the luxury liner Lusitania. Key to Lawrence, an historical thriller by Linda and Gary Cargill, commemorates this anniversary. The authors start out the novel with the last voyage of the Cunard ocean liner from May 1, 1915 to May 7, 1915 when the vessel sank in the Irish Sea six miles from land.

Many mysteries remain about the sinking of the famous ship. The greatest is the mysterious second explosion which took place within minutes after the German torpedo hit the liner at exactly 2:10 PM British time. It seemed to have no cause and hastened the demise of the Lusitania which sank and disappeared beneath the waves in only eighteen minutes. By 2:30 PM it was history.

Robert D. Ballard in his book, Exploring the Lusitania: Probing the Mysteries of the Sinking That Changed History, postulates that vapor pockets from the coal-fired engines caused the big explosion. But it's only a theory, and no one really knows. If Captain Turner knew he was kept quiet by Cunard and the British government for the rest of his life. They even appeared at the inquest and pulled him out of it the day after the sinking.

The British government remains the only entity who might actually know the true fate of the ship. They are the only ones who would know what was actually being carried in the hold other than a fortune in famous paintings for Sir Hugh Lane. Were there guns? Ammunition? Something else that might attract German attention?

The Lusitania is as elusive today as it was one hundred years ago. When Miss Dora Benley boards the Cunard ocean liner in New York on May 1 she trembles at the sight of a stranger eying the birthday package she is carrying. She is already being enmeshed in the ship's mysteries. If she doesn't figure out what's going on soon, she will die in the Irish Sea along with half the passengers.

Key to Lawrence by Linda and Gary Cargill will be available October 1, 2013 through your favorite retailer.